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On Think Tanks was founded in mid 2010. It has evolved from a blog into a global platform dedicated to study and support policy research and policy research centres, or think tanks. The members of the On Think Tanks Team and its Advisory Board are spread out across 6 continents!

Please subscribe to On Think Tanks. The suggested contribution is GBP5.00 per month and you can unsubscribe at any time.

For alternative ways to support us, or if you would like to read about our strategy and find out more about On Think Tanks, please visit the support section of the website.

Nice to meet you

On Think Tanks was founded in 2010 as a personal blog. I wanted to explore a type of organisation that increasingly featured in the literature and in efforts to strengthen policymaking in the developing world. I felt (and still feel) they could play a positive role in supporting evidence informed policy-making. Since, the topic has gained notoriety and interest in think tanks and the wider evidence informed policy-making agenda has increased.

Over the years OTT added services, knowledge and initiatives for think tanks and the for the evidence informed policy-making world. This is our story at 8 years old.

Today, OTT is a global platform dedicated to the study and support of policy research centres. Our team (including trainers and board members) live and work in 6 continents and our readers reflect this diversity. The UK and the US make up about 40% of the visitors to our site. The rest of our readership comes from 160 other countries!

Thanks to the support of the Hewlett Foundation, we have been able to establish a team, an advisory board, launch new initiatives and develop a long term plan. Hewlett’s support is channelled through Universidad del Pacifico, in Peru. This offers a new opportunity: a southern based initiative with global aspirations.

What we do

Services:

Newsletters, a jobsboard, an events calendar and advice.

Knowledge:

New data, research, analysis, resources and features on think tanks and best practices, including a new Working Paper Series in partnership with the University of Bath and Universidad del Pacifico and an Open Think Tank Directory.

Capacity building:

Through the On Think Tanks School (OTT School), we provide online and face to face training, including a Winterschool in Geneva in partnership with foraus, the Think Tank Hub Geneva and Southern Voice.

Community and partnerships:

We incorporate contributors, collaborators, OTT School alumni and Fellows into the OTT community and support local, regional and global efforts that share our values and objectives. Find out more about this community, which we hope you will be able to join!

Our content is centred around five main themes: governance and management, research, communications and impact, funding and supporting think tanks, and understanding think tanks.

Our publications include briefs, reports, papers, compilations, and books. Our resources include manuals, videos, and publications. They present a range of solutions to common challenges that think tanks face. We also produce edited series on key issues, countries or regions. These series offer the readers a combination of in-depth analysis and insights.

Why do we do this?

We believe that decisions are better when they are informed by evidence. The emergence and growth of think tanks in developing countries is promising: local solutions to local problems. We want to keep supporting this growth and encourage think tanks to reshape themselves, adapt to their contexts and continue to generate research to inform policy.

Supporting us

We are looking for support to do more and to do it better. You can support OTT by:

Funding one or more initiatives and/or their implementation in a region or around a

policy issue of interest

Regional or thematic support

Although OTT is a global initiative, we also want to engage at a level closer to think tanks and their communities. It is our intention to ensure a good balance between different regions. Support from regional funders would allow us to provide more content relevant to the region, including:

Job opportunities and upcoming events about think tanks in the region

New articles, interviews and series on specific issues concerning think tanks in the region

Videos on think tanks in the region to raise their profile and share best practices, and encourage the publication of new research on policy research

Tailored capacity building actitivies through the OTT School, adapting and customising course content and approach, offering scholarships to thinktankers and policy entrepreneurs and encouraging more young leaders to join the Winterschool for thinktankers

Events to discuss the role of think tanks and evidence informed policy

More representatives from the region present at our annual conference and more thinktankers writing and sharing their ideas through the OTT platform

A more comprehensive database of think tanks from the region to encourage greater interaction between think tanks and promote more research about them

We are also interested in incorporating a thematic angle to our work. For instance, we could also focus these services on think tanks and thinktankers within the education, health and other sectors.

We believe that we offer more than “outputs”. On Think Tanks has always followed these principles:

Be inclusive and global, take the initiative, rock the boat and be an honest source of ideas and advice.

As such, OTT can provide a valuable service to funders of policy research.

We would love to learn more about your work related to policy research and evidence informed policy and help share your experiences and lessons.

We feel that encouraging these interactions and developing engaging relationships with thinktankers, research centres and their supporters are fundamental to our mission.

If you would like to chat further about our work and how you can support us, drop me a line at [email protected].